Stephen D Cannerelli / The Post-StandardGood weather brought out a large crowd of people for Day 11 at the New York State Fair on Sunday, Aug. 31. Fair Director Dan O'Hara reporter today that revenue was up in 2008 even though attendance dropped.

At the 2008 New York State Fair, more people paid to get in and fairgoers spent more on carnival rides and purchased a record number of baked potatoes despite a challenging economic climate, Fair Director Dan O'Hara announced Monday.
The overall attendance dropped by just under 1 percent compared to 2007's figures, but revenue from paid attendance at the gate jumped by nearly 5 percent to $1.56 million because fewer fairgoers purchased discounted advance sale tickets, according to O'Hara and his spokesman.
A total of 927,871 people attended the 12-day event.

"We are extremely pleased with this year's fair," O'Hara said in a prepared release. "Families came and enjoyed the new attractions, the increased emphasis on agriculture and the family-friendly atmosphere we worked to create. They told us they appreciated many of the changes we've made. The Midway broke records. The vendors made money. The 2008 fair was a win for everybody."

O'Hara is eager to portray the 2008 fair was a success although some fairgoers and vendors and former fair employees have publicly voiced complaints about the second-year director's management style and about changes he has instituted.

In a news release Monday, the state fair noted its attendance fell only slightly while attendance at the Erie County Fair, near Buffalo, dropped 10 percent this year. The news release did not note that rain fell on Buffalo eight of the 12 days the Erie County Fair was running. Meanwhile, Syracuse had 12 consecutive sunny days with pleasant temperatures during the state fair.

Across the country, the struggling economy contributed to 65 percent of the nation's big fairs having their attendance increase or stay steady this year as people vacationed closer to home, said Jim Tucker, executive director of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions.

Spending at fairs has generally been up this year even at sites where attendance has dropped, Tucker said.

In New York, fairgoers spent $1.95 million on tickets for the James E. Strates Shows Midway rides, games of skill and concessions this year, 15 percent more than in 2007, O'Hara noted.

That increase in carnival revenue is at least partially due to a $5 increase in the price of the ride-all-day rates, acknowledged Frederic Pierce, the fair's spokesman.

The state received $707,717 from the Strates ticket sales in 2008, up $90,307 from the 2007 figures, Pierce said.

O'Hara came under fire this year over his firing of a longtime employee who had booked the fair's concerts for several decades and the subsequent awarding of a lucrative no-bid contract to Live Nation Worldwide to do that task.

Under the Live Nation contract, the state will spend $500,000 more to book and advertise the concerts in 2008 than it spent in 2007, The Post-Standard has reported.

State officials were still reviewing the revenue and expenses connected to the fair's grandstand and free Chevy Court concerts, and those figures were not available, Pierce said.

But he noted that a record 97,163 patrons -- including paid and complimentary ticket holders -- saw grandstand concerts this year.